--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He…" description: "\"Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling success, politically as well as spiritually, and Islam went from strength to strength to streng..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/karen-armstrong-1053_dazzling_mohammed-was-not-an-apparent-failure-he_3124466.jpg" --- # Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling… ![“Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling success, politically as well as spiritually, and Islam went from strength to strength to strength.” quote by Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/karen-armstrong-1053_dazzling_mohammed-was-not-an-apparent-failure-he_3124466.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/karen-armstrong-1053_dazzling_mohammed-was-not-an-apparent-failure-he_3124466.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/karen-armstrong-1053_dazzling_mohammed-was-not-an-apparent-failure-he_3124466.jpg) > “Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling success, politically as well as spiritually, and Islam went from strength to strength to strength.” [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Islam grew stronger despite setbacks, showing resilience and triumph. **In simple terms:** Islam succeeded and kept growing. Key Takeaway Recognize resilience in faith traditions. Themes faith resilience history Mood reflective inspiring Type historical analytical When to use this quote - personal belief crises - community building - interfaith dialogue - political change Key Concepts Religion sociology growth Questions to Reflect On - What factors contributed to Islam’s expansion? - How does resilience shape religious identity? A Different Perspective Success narratives can overlook internal struggles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dazzling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dazzling/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) [Islam Went](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam-went-4660879/) [Koran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/koran/) [Mohammed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mohammed/) [Mohammed Apparent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mohammed-apparent-5499917/) [Spiritually Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritually-islam-5499919/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Success Politically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success-politically-5499918/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [Islam is a religion of success. Unlike Christianity, which has as its main image, in the west at least, a man dying in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/islam-is-a-religion-of-success-unlike-christianity-which-has-as-its-2/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Every Muslim leader must unequivocally proclaim that terror committed in the name of Islam violates the core tenets of the Prophet Mohammed, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pompeo/every-muslim-leader-must-unequivocally-proclaim-that-terror-committed/) [Mike Pompeo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pompeo/) > [Mohammed Ali. He's much more than a boxer. He's also a passionate idealist who fought for his people. I respect him - and, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laila-rouass/mohammed-ali-he-s-much-more-than-a-boxer-he-s-also-a-passionate/) [Laila Rouass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laila-rouass/) > [“These people were so self-destructively open, so afraid to offend those who would just as soon see them and their children dead and their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/these-people-were-so-self-destructively-open-so-afraid-to-offend/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [“من قال عليّ ما لم أقل فليتبوأ مقعده من النار Whoever ascribes to me what I have not said then let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire! ( Sahih al-Bukhari , Book 3, #109)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prophet-muhammad/whoever-ascribes-to-me-what-i-have-not-said-then-let-him-occupy-his/) [Prophet Muhammad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prophet-muhammad/) > ['The Last Patriot' is set in the present day but is based upon the premise that the Prophet Mohammed had a final revelation, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-thor/the-last-patriot-is-set-in-the-present-day-but-is-based-upon-the/) [Brad Thor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-thor/) > [Mohammed al-Qahtani was not alleged to be a leader of the Sept. 11 plot. He was not trained as a pilot. If he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/mohammed-al-qahtani-was-not-alleged-to-be-a-leader-of-the-sept-11/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > ['I believe in one God and Mohammed the Apostle of God,' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/i-believe-in-one-god-and-mohammed-the-apostle-of-god-is-the-simple/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [The Holy Prophet Mohammed came into this world and taught us: 'That man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan/the-holy-prophet-mohammed-came-into-this-world-and-taught-us-that-man/) [Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan/) > [For the most part, Islam is about peace. It's dealing with submission to the most high. Mohammed is a prophet, a messenger. But at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ghostface-killah/for-the-most-part-islam-is-about-peace-it-s-dealing-with-submission/) [Ghostface Killah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ghostface-killah/) > [“تبسمك في وجه أخيك صدقة، وأمرك بالمعروف صدقة ونهيك عن المنكر صدقة، وإرشادك الرجل في أرض الضلال لك صدقة، ونصرك الرجل الرديء البصر لك…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/smiling-in-your-brother-s-face-is-an-act-of-charity-so-is-enjoining/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mohammed knew that most people are terribly cowardly and stupid. That is why he promised two beautiful women to every courageous warrior who dies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-himmler/mohammed-knew-that-most-people-are-terribly-cowardly-and-stupid-that/) [Heinrich Himmler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-himmler/) > [“And there are many people, both Moslem and Christian, who have a good grasp of each others0 conceptions of surrender to God an other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/and-there-are-many-people-both-moslem-and-christian-who-have-a-good/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [Prophet Mohammed would have no objection to The Satanic Verses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/prophet-mohammed-would-have-no-objection-to-the-satanic-verses/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Praise be Allah and prayers and peace upon Mohammed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osama-bin-laden/praise-be-allah-and-prayers-and-peace-upon-mohammed/) [Osama bin Laden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osama-bin-laden/) ## More by Karen Armstrong > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [A gentleman is not born but crafted. He had to work on himself in the same way as a sculptor shaped a rough stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/a-gentleman-is-not-born-but-crafted-he-had-to-work-on-himself-in-the/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I was a lousy nun. I couldn't do it. I couldn't find God. It wasn't suitable for me. It is suitable for very few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-was-a-lousy-nun-i-couldn-t-do-it-i-couldn-t-find-god-it-wasn-t/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides, Aquinas and Ibn Sina, made it clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential-jewish-christian-and-muslim/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The great task of our time is to build a global society, where people can live together in peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/the-great-task-of-our-time-is-to-build-a-global-society-where-people/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [We want to create, never mind the leaders or the bishops or chief rabbis or imams, or Popes. We want to create a grassroots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-want-to-create-never-mind-the-leaders-or-the-bishops-or-chief/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [If we don't manage to implement the Golden Rule globally, so that we treat all peoples, wherever and whoever they may be, as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-we-don-t-manage-to-implement-the-golden-rule-globally-so-that-we/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [After I left the convent, for 15 years I was worn out with religion, I wanted nothing whatever to do with it. I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/after-i-left-the-convent-for-15-years-i-was-worn-out-with-religion-i/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“As we have seen, so many of the things we once took for granted have proved unreliable that we may have to “forget” old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/as-we-have-seen-so-many-of-the-things-we-once-took-for-granted-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/yet-a-personal-god-can-become-a-grave-liability-he-can-be-a-mere-idol/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“I discovered that I felt at home and alive in the silence, which compelled me to enter my interior world and around there. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-discovered-that-i-felt-at-home-and-alive-in-the-silence-which/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Each of the world religions has its own particular genius, its own special insight into the nature and requirements of compassion, and has something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/each-of-the-world-religions-has-its-own-particular-genius-its-own/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“all rightly guided religion that submitted wholly to God, refused to worship man-made deities and preached that justice and equality came from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/all-rightly-guided-religion-that-submitted-wholly-to-god-refused-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“advocates of evolutionary theory since Thomas H. Huxley (1825–95) have found altruism problematic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/advocates-of-evolutionary-theory-since-thomas-h-huxley-1825-95-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Explore all 296 Karen Armstrong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## More Dazzling quotes > [...and there I suddenly found my articulate self in a dazzling land of smiling, jostling people wearing and not wearing all sorts of costumes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-grant/and-there-i-suddenly-found-my-articulate-self-in-a-dazzling-land-of/) [Cary Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-grant/) > [We also ascend dazzling and tremendous as the sun, We found our own O my soul in the calm and cool of the daybreak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/we-also-ascend-dazzling-and-tremendous-as-the-sun-we-found-our-own-o/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Michelle Alexander's brave and bold new book paints a haunting picture in which dreary felon garb, post-prison joblessness, and loss of voting rights now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lani-guinier/michelle-alexander-s-brave-and-bold-new-book-paints-a-haunting/) [Lani Guinier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lani-guinier/) > [Let man then contemplate nature in full and lofty majesty, and turn his eyes away from the mean objects which surround him. Let him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/let-man-then-contemplate-nature-in-full-and-lofty-majesty-and-turn/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The pure air and dazzling snow belong to things beyond the reach of all personal feeling, almost beyond the reach of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/the-pure-air-and-dazzling-snow-belong-to-things-beyond-the-reach-of/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [How many of us have been attracted to reason; first learned to think, to draw conclusions, to extract a moral from the follies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-many-of-us-have-been-attracted-to-reason-first-learned-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The thing we often forget to talk about, or perhaps we take for granted, is our country’s dazzling beauty. Our natural environment is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-bryce/the-thing-we-often-forget-to-talk-about-or-perhaps-we-take-for/) [Quentin Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-bryce/) > [As slavery died for the greater good of America, and the movement for equality sputtered to life, the white woman was on the cover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/as-slavery-died-for-the-greater-good-of-america-and-the-movement-for/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [You will notice the phenomena of meditation. You may see dazzling lights, feel energy coursing through different parts of your body, feel as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-will-notice-the-phenomena-of-meditation-you-may-see-dazzling/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The aged love what is practical while impetuous youth longs only for what is dazzling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petrarch/the-aged-love-what-is-practical-while-impetuous-youth-longs-only-for/) [Petrarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petrarch/) > [Immortality—dazzling idea! who first imagined thee! Was it some jolly burgher of Nuremburg, who with night-cap on his head, and white clay pipe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/immortality-dazzling-idea-who-first-imagined-thee-was-it-some-jolly/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [Maggie Shipstead's prose is so graceful and muscular, so dazzling, so sure-handed and fearless, that at times I had to remind myself to breathe.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/maggie-shipstead-s-prose-is-so-graceful-and-muscular-so-dazzling-so/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [The sun penetrates crystal and makes it more dazzling. In the same way, the sanctifying Spirit indwells in souls and makes them more radiant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/the-sun-penetrates-crystal-and-makes-it-more-dazzling-in-the-same-way/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [In the adverts, I look like I do because 150 people have spent seven hours making me look dazzling. That's not me at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keeley-hawes/in-the-adverts-i-look-like-i-do-because-150-people-have-spent-seven/) [Keeley Hawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keeley-hawes/) > [“The rake himself lived up to Amy’s expectations, however, when he came out to greet his guests. Tall, dark, handsome, and dressed with devastating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-beverley/the-rake-himself-lived-up-to-amy-s-expectations-however-when-he-came/) [Jo Beverley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-beverley/) [Browse all 176 Dazzling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dazzling/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mohammed was not an apparent failure. 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